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Friday, April 1, 2011

Outpatient Stroke Rehab -- First Week

Well, we completed the first full week of Outpatient Rehab which has left us both exhausted. The Wheelchair Transport helps (Thanks again, Dad & Mom) but it is still a lot of hard work.

In Physical Therapy, they are working on strengthening his legs. This is the first step toward walking. Bob has been bedridden so long (five months) that even his "good" leg is weak. Above is a picture of a Bob at the "Standing Machine". You can tell, he's not a happy camper... I'm sure it hurts. (Click on the photo to enlarge it!) But I can't begin to describe how happy it makes me to see him standing upright. The device has a hydraulic strap in back that pulls him up and holds him in place. He spends about half of the therapy session in this device and the other half on the parallel bars with a therapist holding onto him or doing mat exercises.

Occupational Therapy is conducting "e-stim" (electrical stimulation) on his right arm. They attach electrodes to his shoulder in an attempt to get the muscles to move. They tell me that the shoulder is the first part of the arm to come back. They are trying to induce a "shrug" movement in his shoulder. No luck yet, but it's only been a week. The rest of OT is spent with range of motion exercises and games to try to get Bob to focus on his right (affected) side. Bob thinks the games are stupid and spends a lot of time rolling his eyes, but the therapists tell me that the idea here is to retrain the brain to recognize the right side of his body. The games include tossing bean bags with his left hand across his right into a bucket or reaching for things held far over to the right.

Bob enjoys Speech and Swallow Therapy the best. The Speech Therapist is great. They have been doing a lot of evaluation on his abilities to try to pinpoint his deficits. This is something the other therapists never did. Turns out that he does have some reading abilities if the words are accompanied by a picture. He still struggles with naming objects but does much better if the object is accompanied by a written word. He's better with numbers than letters. After just one week, his speaking is a little clearer. Swallow Therapy is continuing with "e-stim" on his throat. He struggles more with swallowing than he used to, i.e. a lot of choking and coughing, although I'm told this is a good sign as it indicates his sensations are coming back--before things were just sliding down the "wrong hole" and he didn't even notice.

As for the other thing, that dreaded urinal, I'm quite happy to report we had a dry night last night!!!! YES! I played around with the new urinal, filled it water and held it in different positions, and I think the trouble is backflow--because he was holding it wrong. I mean, you can't pee uphill! I got him to put the thing between his legs and steady it that way. Seemed to work. Pray it continues.

Finally, today we have "off" and can relax. I'm letting him sleep in a bit. We both need a break.

Welcome To Our Pink House

About Me

Bob and I were married 09/16/94. He is my soulmate, the love of my life. Bob is an artist and I am a writer.
On 10/20/10, Bob, following his doctor's advice, underwent a carotid endarterectomy. When I left him in ICU that night, he was fine and I thought in good hands. Two hours after my departure, a nurse noted on his chart that Bob's speech was slurred and his right arm was paralyzed. The nurse did not call a doctor. Later that night, the nurse noted that Bob could not move his right arm or leg, still a doctor was not called. The next morning, the nurse noted that he was paralyzed on the right side, a "12" on the Glasgow Coma Scale, disoriented and confused, but no doctor was informed. I arrived at 9:00 a.m. and immediately called for the doctor. He was rushed to surgery. It was 12 hours too late. The CAT scan showed 2/3 of his brain had been damaged. I was told he would not survive. Somehow, he did.
Bob was discharged from the hospital on 12/31/10 and, although the hospital wanted him sent to a nursing home, I brought him home instead. This is the story of our journey since that day. This is also a love story.
(Bob passed away 5/28/15 and I am trying to survive....)